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When the phone rang at quarter to five in the morning of October 10, it startled him and he cried out before snatching at the bedside phone. “Hello?”
He expected it to be Dick Hangood, but it wasn’t. “Okay, Kermit, here’s the deal. ”
Newton paused. “Crow?”
“No, it’s Tickle Me Elmo—now, you listening?”
He sat up, kicking the blankets to the floor. “Yes!”
“Val thinks I should kick your nuts up into your chest cavity, but I’m willing to give this a second chance. ”
“Um…okay…Thanks?”
“So, if you still want that story—and if you can keep your reactions on a short leash—”
“Yes! Crow, I’m sorry. You just caught me off guard. ”
“We’ll kiss and make up later. For now I have a new condition to add to our arrangement. ”
“Sure! Anything!” He said, meaning it.
“Here’s the deal, on Friday morning I’m going to go on a little field trip, and I want you to go with me. I’m going to go out to Ubel Griswold’s old farm, and I want you to go with me. ”
“Sure,” Newton said at once, and then what Crow said caught up with him. “Did you say—?”
“Yeah. Sound like fun to you? Me neither, but you meet me outside my store at seven-thirty Friday morning. Dress for the woods and pack a lunch. We’re going to have to hike in. See you then,” he concluded and then hung up before Newton could reply.
Newton lay in bed and stared up at the shadows on the ceiling and wondered just what the hell he had agreed to.
(2)
“But he hasn’t been home for three days!”
Officer Jim Polk spread his hands, sighed and said, “Look, Andy, there’s not much we can do. Ritchie is over eighteen and you yourself said he took a lot of his stuff with him. Clothes and such. ”
“Which means he’s run away!” stressed Andy McClintock, tapping his thick index finger firmly on Polk’s desk.
“But at eighteen he’s allowed to run away,” Polk said. “According to the law, at eighteen he’s old enough to leave home without parental permission, so there’s really nothing we can do. Hell, at eighteen I was in the Corps and carrying a gun. Eighteen is a lot different from fifteen, and that’s what you’re not seeing. ”
“He didn’t even leave a note. Nothing, not a damned word. Just up and goes one night. ” Andy McClintock was a big bear of a man, tall and stocky, tending toward fat but still strong from long hours working his dairy farm. He had callused hands and a permanently sunburned face. His eyes were filled with worry and it bubbled out of him as anger.
“I’m sure you’re scared, and pissed off, but listen to me, Andy, ’cause I don’t know how many more times I can say this—there isn’t anything I can do. If he was sixteen I’d have his name and description sent out to every agency in the tristate area, but I’m not even allowed to do that with an eighteen-year-old. ”
Andy McClintock straightened himself to his full height of six feet and glared at the seated Polk. He opened his mouth to say something very biting, and Polk could all but smell the acid forming on Andy’s tongue, but the moment of anger passed and Andy’s shoulders sagged, his face looking both confused and helpless. “Jim…he’s my only kid…. ”
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Polk rose, came around the desk, and put his hand on Andy’s beefy shoulder. “Look, I’ll ask around anyway, okay? Let a few of the other guys know, too, talk to some of my buddies in Black Marsh and Crestville. Unofficial. Maybe we’ll hear something from someone. If we do, I’ll let you know first thing. ”
“You promise?”
“Absolutely. First thing. But,” he said as they stood in the open doorway, “just give the kid a little time. Let him blow off some steam, get laid, get drunk. He’ll get it out of his system and come crawling home. Hell, we all did that at least once. ”
Andy nodded and shook Polk’s hand and left. Polk watched him get in his car and drive out of the lot, then he turned and pulled the door shut behind him. The office was empty except for Ginny, who dozed at her desk, a Danielle Steele novel open and resting against her bosom. Quietly, unhurriedly, Polk walked over to the farthest desk and lifted the handset of the phone. He punched in a number and waited until someone picked up.
“Shanahan’s Garage. ”
“Let me speak to Vic,” Polk said. “Tell him it’s Jim Polk. ”
